Rail-joint.



R. H. ooNWAY & H. E. BISBING.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION HLBD nu 3.1909.

RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED uns, 1909.

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RICHARD H. CONWAY AND IIllltllfifv E. BISBING, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNORS 0F ONE-FOURTH TO LEWIS K. MARR, OF PHILAELPI'IIA, PENNSYL- VANIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

Application filed May 3, 1909. Serial No. 493,463.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD IvI. CON- wAY and HARRY E. BISBING,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRail-Joints, of which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to an improved rail joint, and more particularlyto aninsulating joint, the object of the Vinvention being to provideimprovements of this character, which will firmly and rigidly secure themeeting ends of rails in alinement, and which will mosteffectuallyinsulate one rail from the other.

A further object is to provide an improved insulated rail joint composedentirely of metal and ber insulation, which will enable the insulationto be readily replaced in case of wear, and the substitution of a newpart for any broken or injured part of the joint.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction, and combinations Vand arrangements ofparts as will be more` fully hereinafter described and pointed out inthe claims. A i

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, is a plan view illustrating vone.form of our improvements. Fig. 2, is a view in side elevation ofFig. 1. Fig. 3,'is a view in cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.Fig. 4, is a view in cross section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, isa view in cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6, isaplan viewillustrating a modified vform of rail joint. Fig. 7, is a view in crosssection on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, are detailperspective views of the several parts forming one side of a rail joint.j

1, 1, represent rails securedV in alinement by our improved rail jointmembers 2,' 2, located at opposite sides ofthe rail, and secured bymeans of bolts?) and nuts 4. Each member 2 comprises four separate anddistinct parts, which for convenience of description, have beendesignated 5, 6, 7 and 8, the parts 5' and 'being of metal, preferablysteel, and the parts 7 and 8 of insulating.l

fibrous composition. v

Between the adjacent ends ot the rails 1, 1, a plate 9 of fibrousinsulating material lis positioned, and conforms in shape to the shapeof the rails. The part 5 of both members being notched as shown at 10,so that the lower portion of this insulating plate 9 can be readilyobserved from the outside, so that it can be replaced in the event ithas become worn.

The part 5 which extends throughout the entire length of the joint, isof the peculiar vshape shown most clearly in Fig. 8, which throughoutabout one-half of its length on its inner face, is provided with alongitudinal groove 11, and the part 7 which is of insulating liber, isso kshaped in cross section as to conform to the shape of the recess 11,the inner face 12, and the bottom face 13 of this end of part 5.

The end of the part 7 adjacent to the center of part 5, is cut away asshown at 14, and the block S of insulating material is located in thiscut out portion of the insulation 7, and lies within a recess formed bythe cooperation of the recessed ends of parts 5' and 6 when together,and is held tight against the rail ends and against the insulating plate9.

The part 6 conforms in general outline to the shape of part 7, andincloses the latter, eXcept at the upper and outer edges and :1t the endof the joint, where the edge of the insulation 7 can be seen.

- The parts 5, 6 and 7, are provided with alined openings registeringwith openings in the rails, and insulating sleeves 15 are positioned inthe'said openings to receive the ordinary bolts 3 and nuts 4 to securelytie lthe rails together.

y ris-will be seen in Fig. 1, lone end of each joint member is narrowedor restricted, ,as it is only necessary to widen the kmember where .thethree parts 5, 6 and 7 'are formed. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, `thewidesections of both rail joint members are at the same end, while thestructure shown in Figs. 6 and7, illustrates the op osite ends of therail joint members widenec, but in either event, the insulation will beperfect, and-the railsv will be absolutely insulated one from the other.It will also be observed that the insulating piece 7 is protected fromthe weather to a greatjextent, and hence its life will becorrespondingly lengthened, for when the mem bers are clamped by meansof the bolts against the rails, the insulation will be so tightlyclamped against members 5 and G,

that it will be practically impossible for any moisture to find its wayinto the fibrous insulation.

The plate 9 between the ends of the rails is preferably made of abouttwice the thickness of the part 7. This is not only that the life of theplate 9 between the vibrating rails will be lengthened, but so thatregardless of a wide range of movement of the joint members duringexpansion and contraction of the parts, the insulation of the rails onefrom the other will be thoroughlyT maintained. The parts of each memberare so shaped that they interlock without the employment of any deviceto hold them, other than the ordinary bolts such as used in all railjoints, and they may be taken apart and replaced by new parts wheneverdesired by any one of average intelligence at comparatively small cosSlight changes might be made in the general form and arrangement ofparts described without departing from our invention, and hence we donot restrict ourselves to the precise details set forth, but considerourselves at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fallwithin the spirit and scope of the claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a rail joint, the combination with the adjacent ends of two rails,of a plate of insulating material interposed between the ends of therails, a rail joint member located at each side of the rails, each railjointmember comprising a part extending throughout the length of thejoint, and having a recessed end, an insulating part conforming in shapeto the shape of said recessed portion of the first mentioned part, athird part conforming in general shape to the shape of said insulation,and a block of insulation adjacent the insulating plate and against thesaid insulating part.

2. In a rail joint, the combination with the adjacent ends of two rails,of a plate of insulating material interposed between the adjacent endsof the rails, and conforming in shape to the shape of the rails, jointmembers at opposite sides of the rail, each member comprising a partextending throughout the length of the joint and recessed at one end, aninsulating part conforming in shape j to the recessed end .of the iirstmentioned part, a third part conforming in shape to the shape of theinsulation and confining the insulation between the same and the firstmentioned part, a block of insulation located against the plate betweenthe ends of the rails and bearing against the insulating part, saidparts having alined openings registering with openings in the rails,insulating sleeves extending through the said parts and clamping boltsprojecting through said sleeves and said rails.

3. In a rail joint, the combination with the adjacent ends of two rails,of a plate of insulating material interposed between the ends of saidrails, joint members at opposite sides of said rails, each membercomprising two sections and an interposed thickness of insulatingmaterial extending from one end to a point opposite the said plate,blocks of insulating material interposed between said last mentionedinsulating material and said plate, said members having alined openings,insulating sleeves in said openings, and bolts passing through saidsleeves and tying the rails together.

4. In a rail joint, the combination with the adjacent ends of two rails,of a plate of insulating material interposed between the ends of saidrails, joint members at opposite sides of said rails, each membercomprising two sections and an interposed thickone end to a pointopposite the said plate, blocks of insulating material interposedbetween said first mentioned insulating material and said plate, saidmembers having alined openings, insulating sleeves in said openings, andbolts passing through said sleeves and tying the rails together, andboth of said members having notches or rccesses registering with theplate of insulating material, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

R. H. CONWAY. HARRY E. BISBING.

Witnesses R. H. KRENKEL, J. A. L. MULHALL.

ness of insulating material extending from.

